Lice? Mites? Help!

[tlkjaw]

My royal palm tom had been acting a little strange, he just wasn't being as active as he usually is. I looked him over and found a whole bunch of these bugs on him. Luckily I had some Garden and Poultry Dust and treated him with it, along with my rooster (who only had a few) but my other birds seemed to be okay (they are separated). I also completely cleaned their coop and sprinkled some of the dust under the new litter. That was yesterday, today quite a bit of the bugs were gone.
-Have I done all I can do, and how often can I use the dust?
-Also what are these, mites or lice or something else?

Sorry for the bad picture, he really didn't like the fact that I was "attacking" him!

Here's another one that isn't as zoomed it (although it probably doesn't help):

 

[cowhlb]

Birds 'dust' themselves to get rid of lice. He will be fine with them or without them.

 

[tlkjaw]

Thank you!
I have a question. I have had him since he was a baby and he is almost two. Since I have had him he has rarely taken dust baths, is there a reason for this?

 

[ivan3]

I have a question. I have had him since he was a baby and he is almost two. Since I have had him he has rarely taken dust baths, is there a reason for this?

Roosters and Toms tend to take fewer dust baths than chicken/turkey hens. That said, if the `boys' are provided with an acceptable dust bathing area, they'll use it. Ours have a fire pit (burn lots of branches/leaves). Wood ashes are particularly useful in keeping the ectoparasites at bay. We have to knock down and put out fires as soon as we've finished burning (cool off) as the chooks and turks make a beeline for the `pit' as soon as they are let out, if it hasn't been raining. From shots, appears to be lice. Check this post for more info/treatments: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/296677/raw-around-beak-matted-feathers-too-on-face#post_3628507

 

[Hounds51]

You may want to try Diatomaceous earth. I use straw for bedding. So I just clean out the coop and sprinkle FOOD GRADE Diatomaceous earth on the bare surface then add a thin layer of straw or what ever you use. then sprinkle another layer of Diatomaceous earth and finish off with your bedding material.
I use an old sock and fill it with Diatomaceous earth and shake it on as a duster. You can also dust your poultry with it.
But remember use only FOOD GRADE Diatomaceous earth.
Can be purchased on E-Bay in quanity.
Just remember to get food grade.
Here is a site for info

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Perma-Guard...ceous-Earth-6-lbs-/170348333300#ht_8945wt_662

 

[cowhlb]

Thank you!
I have a question. I have had him since he was a baby and he is almost two. Since I have had him he has rarely taken dust baths, is there a reason for this?

Is his run dusty or does it have a lot of grass? If it has a lot of grass I would get a ''kitty pool'' and fill it with dust. Or you could do something more shallow. This would most likely help his mites and lice.

 

[tlkjaw]

Thank you all! His run is dirt but by the coop its pretty packed down. There's an area when the guineas take dust baths in the run but he doesn't seem interested. He paces the fence (even though his run extends way out into the woods) until I let him out to roam the yard. Out in the yard there is plenty of dirt but he usually just watches the guineas and his special lady friend

take dust baths.
My turkey hen has taken dust baths in the fire-pit before but it seemed to be only a one time thing. I'll have to try a fire more out in the open and hope he goes for it. I'm heading to the store tomorrow looks like i'm picking up some diatomaceous earth too! Thank you all again!

 

[cowhlb]

Thank you all! His run is dirt but by the coop its pretty packed down. There's an area when the guineas take dust baths in the run but he doesn't seem interested. He paces the fence (even though his run extends way out into the woods) until I let him out to roam the yard. Out in the yard there is plenty of dirt but he usually just watches the guineas and his special lady friend

take dust baths.
My turkey hen has taken dust baths in the fire-pit before but it seemed to be only a one time thing. I'll have to try a fire more out in the open and hope he goes for it. I'm heading to the store tomorrow looks like i'm picking up some diatomaceous earth too! Thank you all again!

I hope he gets better! Oh, and there is another solution... You could give him a bath with lice shampoo. It helps also.

 

[Koeyohte]

I had a horrible outbreak of some unidentified bugs/larvae and we used DE and sevin dust like mad all over everything. These awful things were getting inside of my birds... I had quail and pheasants at the time and the quail would lay eggs that I would incubate, only to have worms eating their way out of the eggshells by only a few days in. It was horrible

I picked up individual birds and put the DE under their wings, ruffled feathers and put it all along their backs, under their chest, etc. Get under the wings, that's where the mites/bugs will certainly go. Sevin dust is a poison for bugs but shouldn't harm your birds on the outside (not ingested). It is a poison so I wouldn't recommend putting it where the birds go often and certainly not where they eat (if you have a tray or something you can dust under and around it. Just keep food separate).

From what I have heard, DE works by tearing apart the exoskeletons of small bugs, arachnids, etc... it's small but sharp and hard and causes them trouble so they may leave your birds alone.

Otherwise, a wildlife Rehabilitator friend gave me a bottle of Neutral Q http://www.countrysidepet.com/neutral-q-disinfectant-gallon/ and you dilute it with water (I think 1:128 as listed so it is HIGHLY concentrated). I put just a splash into a spray bottle and filled the rest with water. A combo of Neutral Q, DE and sevin dust was all I did, daily, for a few weeks. The bugs were eventually gone and haven't been back, thankfully.